Hi all --
I am planning on leaving Salzburg in the morning, spending half a day in Melk, and then continuing to Vienna, all in one day.
Am I better off purchasing both legs of the train journey (Salzburg to Melk; Melk to Vienna) separately, or does Austria have a discounted day-pass that would be more worth it?
Thanks in advance!
Zach
If you want to purchase each leg separately at full fare, you can do so, or you can purchase a full fare ticket form Salzburg to Vienna. A full fare ticket is an open ticket; you can make breaks in the journey as desired. If you purchase a reservation from Salzburg to Vienna and get off in Melk, you'll have to purchase a new reservation from Melk to Vienna or do the last leg without a reservation.
As for discount, advance purchase tickets, I know you can do this in Germany, and I assume you can also do it in Austria. That is, you can book the ticket with a set stopover in Melk. But both train legs will be date and time specific, so you have to be back to the station for the second booked train. I know how to book a trip like this on the Bahn website; does anyone know how to do it on the ÖBB website?
Lastly, if there are two to five of you, there is the Einfach-Raus-Ticket, for 36€, which is an all-day, hop on/off pass for regional trains all over Austria. With it you can stay in Melk as long as you want (that day) and board any regional train onward to Vienna, but taking regional trains from Salzburg to Vienna is the slow way to go.
http://www.oebb.at/en/Tickets/Groups/Einfach-Raus-Ticket/
Weak Euro and/or inflation has struck Austria. The Einfach-raus group ticket (up to 5) is 36€ ,for the whole group, up from 35€ last year.
Good from 9:00 to 3:00 of the following day. So enjoy breakfast.
No advanced purchase needed and you can buy the group ticket at the staffed Salzburg Hbf with cash or credit card.
Thanks for the tips, Lee.
Looks like I can book tickets in advance in two separate legs from Salzburg to Melk for 14.00 EUR, and then from Melk to Vienna for 16.30 EUR. This seems to be the best option. There are advance purchase tickets from Salzburg to Vienna for 19.00 EUR total, but I cannot figure out how I can get a set stopover in Melk with that ticket.
